The FIRE in You

Chapter 50: Day dreaming

I almost had a heart attack when Lawrence whispered to me. He was on the opposite side of the circle but suddenly he was next to me.

"No thank you", I said while leaning away from him. "Aubrey please", he pleaded while looking around us. I noticed how people looked at him from the moment we walked in. I really thought he was going to do something dramatic like come to me and ask me why I was pregnant but then his Father stepped in.

Elias Columbus. The envy of every lawyer in the country and the most expensive one too. He is an amazing guy don't get me wrong but, he is also controlling and image means everything to him, which is why Lawrence doesn't have a porn site dedicated to him.

"Aubrey... it will only take a second", he said again and I almost gave in. "Hello Lawrence", Ajax said making us turn to him. He looked too relaxed, it worried me. "Hello Fire Boy, could have sworn this wasn't your scene", Lawrence said with a plastic smile on his face. "Well you thought wrong, I think this is my scene after all, now that we're expecting that is...", he said with a serious face. "So I see. Aubrey, can we talk?", Lawrence asked while ignoring Ajax.

I looked at Ajax and he looked pissed. "The answer is NO Lawrence. You gave away the chance for us to talk, when you decided that Maya was your better half in public", I said and I saw that it hurt his feelings. 

Was he crazy?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Our event is about to start and we would like for you to take your seats", the announcer said making me release a breath. The situation we were in was weird in so many ways, that I needed an out. "Let's go Brey", Ajax said then pulled me by the waist leaving Lawrence with furrowed brows. 

He was pissed to the maximum and I did not feel an ounce of pity towards him.

The event went on smoothly. I ate everything that was put in front of me until Ajax started telling the waiters not to give me anything. It made Speranza laugh. I was about to complain to Justin when Liam came to our table and whispered something to Ajax, he looked surprised then smiled and nodded. 

"I'll be right back, Liam needs my help with something", he said then stood up. "What are they up to?", I asked Speranza who shrugged her shoulders and turned to Justin. "What?", he asked then sipped his drink. "Do you know what Liam and Ajax are up to?", Speranza asked. "Yes, and I'm not telling you. Bro code ladies", he said with swag making me roll my eyes at him while Speranza laughed.

The event moderators went on stage and started presenting the awards. They were both famous supermodels but then again such events always had the best moderators. By best I mean both appearance and hosting skills. It made the event less formal.

"This year has been the year for renewable energy", one of the moderators said. "My have they taken the industry by storm, from massive campaigns to employment opportunities for SMEs, you name it and one name appears", the other said while pretending to lend us an ear to see what name people shouted back. "You got that right! This year's Sustainability Impact Award goes to #abrighterfuture !!", the first model said making people cheer. I turned to Philip and he had a huge smile on his face.

"Wait wait wait... this award will be presented by a very special guest", "Yes indeed... ladies and gentlemen there is no way of saying this innocently but some of us will agree that, there is no Department that is hotter than the fire department, am I right or am I right?", the first moderator asked and everyone cheered again, I was still lost but decided to see what they were talking about. "Yes you are... to present this year's Sustainability Impact Award, we bring you the Regional Fire Department Captain... Mr. Ajax Dufort!", the second moderator said then pretended to fan herself just when Ajax walked on stage and I almost ran away.

What the hell?

"Thank you ladies", he said then turned to us.

He opened the envelope he was holding and then took a quick peek. 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is truly an honour as I have had the pleasure of spending time with one of the founders of this remarkable campaign as well as sharing a life with the other founder", he paused as people cheered. "The only thing I know is fire drills and saving lives, I'm basically everyone's hero", he said, as a matter of fact, making people laugh. It made me laugh too. 

"Interacting with these two individuals made me realise that even though I was high on the cool people's list, they were even higher and this is because they produce a massive impact. They have created over 200,000 employment opportunities across the country and helped over 5,000 businesses get affordable renewable energy equipment without having to worry about transportation or import costs. They have introduced electricity to over 9 million homes, if that's not a sustainability impact I don't know what is", he said making people clap.

"Enough with the serious part, let's welcome them on stage. My good friend and Aubrey's fake boyfriend Philip Netherenes and MY GIRLFRIEND Aubrey Kendricks", he said making me chuckle as Philip pretended to be hurt. We stood up and went on stage.

Philip gave Ajax a bro hug then stepped aside giving me room to hug him. I kissed him on the lips making him smile in the kiss then pulled back allowing him to give us the trophy. "What the hell man? Now paparazzi will be all over me... again", Philip joked making everyone laugh. "Thank you for this award... Aubrey, little Aubrey and I are grateful and we want you to know that everything we do is for the purpose of serving our community. Thank you and be blessed", Philip said then led us off the stage.

I wish the night ended with me walking up the stage only once but I ended up getting four more awards. The Best Female CEO of the Year, The Best Distribution Company of the Year, The Best Collaboration Initiative Award that was jointly won with Philip, and finally The Most Impactful Company of the Year - Internationally.

"If they call me again, you're gonna go. I'm tired of walking", I complained to Ajax who just laughed at me.

"The final award of the night goes to Mr. Lawrence Columbus. As the original initiator of Renewable energy in the country, he has paved the way for more initiatives to arise and be heard and for that, he is this year's Visionary", the moderator said as he walked up on stage for the third time. 

"Thank you very much for this and it is an honour that I can not accept on my own, as you know Aubrey and I were together for four years. I wouldn't be me without her so I thank her for this and to be honest I believe she deserved this more than me but for obvious reasons I can not share this moment with her even though I would have loved to. Thank you", he said then returned to his seat.

"What the hell was that?", Philip asked Ajax but he remained silent with his jaw clenched.